Ex-post Analysis of Mobile Telecom Mergers: The Case of Austria and The Netherlands

Luca Aguzzoni, Benno Buehler, Luca Martile, Ron Kemp and Anton Schwarz
Additional contact information
Luca Aguzzoni: European Commission, DG Competition
Benno Buehler: European Commission, DG Competition
Luca Martile: European Commission, DG Competition
Anton Schwarz: Austrian Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and Telecommunications

De Economist, 2018, vol. 166, issue 1, No 5, 63-87

Abstract: Abstract Recently there has been an increased attention towards the ex-post evaluation of competition policy enforcement decisions and in particular merger decisions. In this paper we study the effects of two mobile telecommunication mergers on prices. We apply a standard difference-in-differences approach which is widely used in the literature on ex-post evaluation of mergers. For the Austrian T-Mobile/tele.ring merger, we conclude that after the acquisition (for which remedies were imposed) prices in Austria did not increase relative to the considered control countries. For the Dutch T-Mobile/Orange merger, we observe an increase in the mobile tariff prices in the Netherlands in the analysed period, relative to the control countries. We cannot firmly establish whether this price increase was exclusively caused by the T-Mobile/Orange merger or in part by possible price effects brought about by the KPN/Telfort merger consummated two years earlier in the Netherlands. However, we believe that such price increase could be linked to the structural changes brought by both KPN/Telfort and T-Mobile/Orange mergers together.

Keywords: Competition law enforcement; Merger control; Ex-post studies; Telecommunications (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D49 K29 L50 L96 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10645-017-9308-5

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